Inferno
by mnduranduran
Summary: Brianna Rose awakes on the morning of her 15th birthday to discover a mysterious letter from a grandmother she didn't know existed. The truth she discovers about her own family will change the course of her life, and others', forever.


It was late. So late it was early. Brianna's weary eyes traced the horizon. Spindle-like fingers in hues of soft pink and indigo stretched across the sky, almost as if they were reaching for the stars slowly fading from the night sky. She flung her auburn hair over her shoulders nonchalantly, her empty expression surveying the sky. She hadn't been able to sleep last night – too many disturbances. Maybe she was just paranoid. But she was Brianna the Fearless…she couldn't seriously have been… But it _did_ explain it. After all, she had never been so freaked out by a simple sweater hanging from her closet door in her whole life. Not to mention, a night light had never been seen as necessary until the possibilities of what actually lay beyond the darkness had become too overwhelming for her to stand. And to think it all began with a dumb letter from a grandmother she never knew existed. She immediately decided it couldn't get much more Harry Potter-esque than that. She thought maybe she was losing her mind; that this had all been her parents' demented idea of a game. Her thoughts had been running in circles all night and she was no closer to a solution now than she had been almost ten hours before.

A brief pounding of the door brought Brianna out of her haze. She nearly leaped out of her skin, her heart thudding with the fury of a hummingbird's wings. No one with any common sense at all should be up at this time of the morning. And then it happened again. BAM. BAM. BAM. _Well, if it's someone with a shotgun, at least I have Jesus_, Brianna smirked. She peeled herself off of the maroon sheets on her bed and plodded down the stairs. Twelve creaky steps later, she found herself standing face to face with the wooden slab of door (In dire need of a fresh paint job, she noted) hanging stiffly on its hinges. Brianna took in a deep breath and swung the front door wide open, mentally preparing herself for a stand off with her surprise visitor. She was shocked at her own strength and bewildered to find herself sprawled out on the cold wood floor. She grimaced at the throbbing in her ankle and glanced up. She found herself staring straight into the forlorn emerald eyes of an older woman who reminded her vaguely of herself.

"Well, I wasn't expecting such a welcoming." Prim and proper, with a broad mauve hat placed neatly over her curled gray hair, the stout woman looked down upon her granddaughter with disdain. Brianna couldn't wipe the look of complete and utter dismay off her face.

"I suppose you ought to be told who I am. And considering that neither of us wants you making a fool of yourself again, I'll make it simple for you. I'm your grandmother."

Brianna regained her composure and stood up slowly, ignoring her tender ankle. She had been prepared for a gunman, not this seemingly bitter woman standing before her. Her grandmother: author of the mysterious note that had kept her wracking her brain hour after hour for any answer that seemed even partially logical. But her mind was now flooded by a sense of desperation. She had wanted to know what was going on since she received that letter, and now its author had _also_ been hand delivered to her doorstep.

"Look, I don't know who the hell you think you are but you can't just come barging into my house! _Why_ are you here? How did you _get_ here?!" Brianna couldn't remember the last time she'd lost her cool like this. Not since her sessions had ended, for sure. She limped to the couch in the next room over and sat down. Her grandmother followed.

"Let me start with the basics. And I'm going to be very blunt. You're fifteen now, it's time you learned. Where is it?"

Brianna didn't have to ask what she meant. She understood. She had thrown it under the bed after last night's upsetting case of paranoia. She headed upstairs as fast as her crippled ankle would let her, snatched the amulet with frustration, and hobbled back down to the living room. As she handed the amulet to her grandmother, the older woman spoke again.

"Brianna, your parents died when you were barely five years old. You wouldn't remember, of course. You were too young. It was a horrendous accident. The police concurred that they had simply misplaced their remains; however, _we_ knew the real truth: There were no remains to be found. Your parents had simply vanished, and that was the plain fact of the matter. You may call these people whom you live with now your 'parents', but they have never been, nor will they ever be, such a thing."

There was silence. Brianna wasn't sure her own heart was even beating.

"There's still more. Don't speak."

She had no intention of doing so. Her tongue felt heavy and sticky and she couldn't form the right words. Anger was beginning to bubble furiously inside of her, threatening to explode like a toxic gas.

"Ah, the amulet. It's been…so long." The woman stroked the ruby with a white gloved finger, as if recalling memories from her meager childhood. "It was mine when I was your age. It's been passed down for generations since generations past. But your mother made a foolish mistake when choosing to marry your…father." She spat the word. The tone of disgust in her grandmother's voice sent a chill down Brianna's spine. "It was then decided she would never be allowed to possess the amulet. It is not recommended in the least bit that we associate with the human world, as she was forced to discover the hard way. This amulet is what has kept our family alive over the years of constant dueling with Erath –"

She couldn't contain herself. The words came spewing out of her mouth with little warning.

"NO. No, I don't think you get it. You've never bothered to tell me you even _existed _until today and now you think that you can just come in here and tell me that my mother was a traitor and that this- this _amulet _is the whole reason we're alive? I'm a 15 frickin' year-old teenager with more issues than you could ever even dream of, and you honestly expect me to believe this _crap_?!"

"I expected this. We're a great deal alike, as hard as this _'crap'_ may be to understand. Your anger, this problem you have, there's a reason for it. There's a reason it's coming back even after all those counselors you've seen. Humans don't seem to understand how necessary anger is and try so many remedies to rid you of it. All of which soon fail, of course, for reasons unknown to them. However, we use this frustration of yours for our own good, which you must understand. You control this amulet, this ruby. Your anger is quick to ignite, much like a flame; thus explaining what this ruby is for – creating fire."

"You must keep this around your neck at all times. If it is released into the wrong hands, we will vanish. Much like your parents did. No trace of evidence that we ever lived on this earth will exist – explaining why you never learned of the accident until now. All witnesses were supposed to have been exterminated, but I had my means of escaping. I have but little time to prepare you for this journey, as They are close to discovering my hideaway, but I will do what I can to see you through to Erath. They will be expecting us. Bring nothing else along. They can't know we have been here." She picked herself up from the sofa and walked slowly to the door. Then she turned to face her granddaughter.

"You're going to do what no others have succeeded in doing. You're going to save us, Brianna Rose."

And then she walked down the street and disappeared into the distance, as the sun was just beginning to peer out from behind the dark monstrosity of cloud forming along the horizon.

Brianna was left standing alone in the cold, open expanse of the unknown. All was still, like the calm before a storm.

**Let me be honest with ya here, I have no idea what happens next...because this was originally intended to be a short story for school. This is as much as I ever wrote. I'd love to know if I should continue on or just start fresh (: (Now might be a good time to mention that I'm not sure how good of a fantasy/action author I am. This story might not even make sense when I finish!)**

**So let me know what you think, comments are always appreciated and taken into consideration.**


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